CinePride Film Festival Unveils Full 2025 Lineup for Inaugural LA Event
We’re officially marking our calendars for September 11–14 because the first-ever CinePride Film Festival is making its grand debut in Los Angeles, and it’s already serving queer cinema realness. With 31 films on the slate and a full weekend of screenings, panels, and fierce storytelling, CinePride is here to stake its claim as the next big name in LGBTQ+ film festivals.
Hosted at Landmark Theatres Sunset, this four-day celebration of global queer voices is all about amplifying the richness and diversity of LGBTQIA+ stories. From emotionally charged dramas and laugh-out-loud comedies to edge-of-your-seat thrillers and genre-bending experiments, the 2025 lineup proves that queer cinema is thriving and absolutely refuses to be boxed in.
Six titles are making their world premieres at CinePride, with even more landing U.S., North American, and West Coast debuts. And let’s talk about the stories themselves, because they’re just as varied and vibrant as the community they represent.
Take Queer Bait, a tense academic drama about mentorship, power, and dignity, executive produced by Cate Blanchett and making its film festival debut. Or Maxxie LaWow: Drag Super-shero, an animated musical fantasy starring drag legends like Jinkx Monsoon, BenDeLaCrème, Monét X Change, Rosé, and Heidi N Closet, in a theatrical screening that marks a first for LA. A Life Inside Me offers a deeply moving look at trans identity and family in rural South Asia, making its U.S. premiere at the festival. Jane Seymour stars in And You Are…?, a heartwarming intergenerational buddy film about memory, identity, and queer belonging, while Lip Sync Assassin, a high-camp Filipino short about a drag queen turned contract killer, makes its world premiere.
The full lineup spans four categories. In Narrative Feature, audiences will see A Life Inside Me, Bleed Like Me, The Last First Time, Maxxie LaWow: Drag Super-shero, Shadows of Willow Cabin, AutoErotica: We Buy Gay Stuff, The Big Johnson, Flamingo Camp, ¡Quba!, THEM FADO BICHA, and Velvet Vision – The Story of James Bidgood (and the Making of Pink Narcissus). In Narrative Short, the festival presents And You Are…?, Cockroach, G L O R Y, Prom Party Massacre, QUEERBAIT, Queer Memoirs: Too Gay For Me, Return to Tanya, September, SLASHR, and Sorority.
In International Short, expect Amida, The Blame Silence, Blood Like Water, Lip Sync Assassin, Mia Mio, MY ENDLESS ECLIPSE, ONE SLIGHT CHANGE, and Zombie Butterflies. And in Micro Content, the festival features Bebe, The Diary of Valeria, and the wonderfully titled Fight!, Fight!, Fight!, Fight!…
In addition to the films themselves, CinePride 2025 will host workshops, filmmaker Q&As, panel discussions, and a Director’s Brunch. The festival will also present awards in categories such as Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Lead Performance, Best Director, the Trailblazer Award, and the coveted Audience Choice Award, which will be voted on by festivalgoers.
“We’re setting the stage for the next generation of storytellers who will redefine what’s possible in film,” says Programming Director Miguel Santos—and honestly, we believe him.
So now you know, cinephiles. Grab your festival fits, plan that trip to LA, and get ready to catch these incredible LGBTQ+ stories on the big screen this September. CinePride is coming, and we’ll see you there.
The first CinePride Film Festival will take place on September 11–14. For more information, visit www.CinePride.org. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!
Featured Image: Images via CinePride Film Festival
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